It is often desired to obtain a copy of a printed, or otherwise manufactured, document (hereinafter referred to as a printed document). Photocopiers, scanners, cameras, etc. are well known devices for producing copies of such printed documents. However with such devices the quality of the copied document is dependent upon the quality of the original. If the original is damaged and/or incomplete then the quality of the copied document will be affected.
The advent of the networks such as office Intranets and the Internet, and in particular the World Wide Web (often referred to as the Web), has made it easy to get hold of electronic versions of documents once a source of that document has been established. A user will generally require a so-called link or an address from which an electronic version may be obtained. If the user simply has a printed document of which they wish to obtain a copy then it is time consuming, if not impossible, to try and locate a new copy.